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Sermon
J. Will Ormond
Have you ever looked into the face of a real king? You may have seen phony kings, such as the king of the homecoming parade or the king of the Mardi Gras. Doubtless these make-believe kings were dressed in elaborate, elegant robes and wore gilded crowns on their heads. If we ever think of kings we picture them sitting on golden thrones, dressed in ermine and velvet and jewel-encrusted crowns. They...
Sermon
John R. Brokhoff
And there followed him a great multitude of the people, and of women who bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning to them said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never gave suck!' Then they will begin to say to th...
3. Two Thieves
Luke 23:32-43
Sermon
Erskine White
And He said to them, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise." (Luke 23:43) Have you ever thought about how lonely Jesus was as He made His way to Calviary’s hill and hung on its cross to die? Someone has compared it to the feeling you get in the hospital as you are being wheeled into the operating room. You feel radically alone as you wave good-bye to your family and friends...
Sermon
John Wayne Clarke
Each of the gospel accounts of the crucifixion has its own peculiarity. Luke presents the trial of Jesus in a way that points fingers directly at the Jewish leaders involved. Luke goes out of his way to make sure we understand that the Jewish leaders are the ones who frame the charges against Jesus. It is they who insist he be crucified. Luke also is careful to make sure that we understand that th...
Sermon
King Duncan
Not everybody who takes up a life of crime is all that smart. Sometimes movies or television glorify criminals. They make them appear sophisticated, even cool. Most criminals do not fall in that category. Like the guy who walked into a little corner store in England with a shotgun and demanded all the cash from the cash drawer. After the cashier put the cash in a bag, the robber saw a bottle of s...
Sermon
King Duncan
Have you ever had an experience of déjà vu? Déjà vu is French for the words, “already seen,” and it’s this strange feeling that you have seen or experienced this moment before. It’s especially common among those who only come to church on Christmas and Easter. They’re like, “Doesn’t the church talk about anything else—Jesus in the cradle or Jesus on the cross? I think I’ve heard this before.” I’m ...
Sermon
King Duncan
WWJD remember when those letters were the rage? There for a while, they were everywhere: bracelets, key rings, and just about anything that can be marked with the logo, WWJD: “What Would Jesus Do?” Later, when the WWJD bracelet rage really started to catch on, people came up with some alternative bracelets: WWPMD for quarterbacks: “What Would Peyton Manning do?” Or WWMSD for homemakers, What wou...
8. Violet, The Color of Royalty
Luke 1:31-35, Luke 23:33-38
Sermon
"Prepare the royal highway ... the King of Kings is near!" This is Advent! Together, as God’s people in Jesus Christ, we look for the coming of our Lord. Last Sunday morning, we began our celebration of the Advent/Christmas season with a look at the "Colors of Christmas!" For our first color, our emphasis last Sunday was on green - the color of life. We spoke of Christ Jesus, the Babe of Bethlehem...
Sermon
King Duncan
Actor Kevin Bacon had a conversation with his six-year-old son after the boy had seen the movie Footloose for the first time. Bacon's son said, "Dad, that was really cool how you jumped up on the roof and swung from the rafters. How did you do that?" "Well, son," said Bacon, "I didn't actually do that part. A stunt man did." "What's a stunt man?" asked his son. "That's someone who dresses like ...
Sermon
Molly F. James
Today is Christ the King Sunday. Our readings — particularly those from Colossians and Luke’s gospel — are all offering us images of Christ as our king. Like any good American, I have mixed feelings about monarchy. There is a romanticism about the monarchy. I love the stories of princes and princesses, kings and queens. While those make nice stories, when it comes down to it, I will also admit to ...
11. The Healing Power of the Cross
Luke 23:26-43, Mark 15:33-41, Luke 23:44-49
Sermon
James W. Moore
Each year on Good Friday here at St. Luke’s, our Chancel Choir gives a magnificent performance of Dubois’ sacred cantata, “The Seven Last Words of Christ,”… a moving musical presentation of the seven sayings of Christ while He was being crucified on Good Friday. How many of those seven last words can; you remember? First, He prays for His executioners – “Father forgive them, they know not what th...
Sermon
James Merritt
On the day that Karl Marx died in 1883, his housekeeper came to him and said: "Tell me your last words and I'll write them down." Marx replied: "Go on and get out! Last words are for fools who haven't said enough!" Well, that is another thing that I disagree with Marx on. Last words are very important and can be very revealing. Here are just a few famous last words: Max Baer, the one time heavywe...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
It's one of the most powerful images in the history of Christianity: Jesus on the cross, flanked on either side by two thieves. Or if you were a first-century gawker at Golgotha, here are three criminals lifted up for humiliation on three crosses. In the final hours of their lives, these three criminals formed a community of the dying. They entered into relationships with each other, shared intim...
Sermon
Stephen M. Crotts
Have you ever noticed how people are attracted to the scene of tragedy? There was a time in our country, when there was going to be a hanging, that people gathered with picnic baskets and children to watch a criminal die. Once a tornado cut a path of destruction through a town in North Georgia. When Sunday afternoon came, there was a huge traffic jam of curious tourists. And even here we are not s...
Sermon
King Duncan
Fred Craddock tells about a family that was taking a lovely Sunday afternoon drive, when suddenly the children began shouting, “Stop the car! There’s a kitten by the road!” The father kept on driving, but his children wouldn’t quiet down. He tried to reason with them. The kitten was probably someone’s pet. It might have a disease. The family already had too many pets. It did no good. The childre...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
Theme: On this Christ the King Sunday, we remember how Jesus, “the King of the Jews,” wants to be Jesus, “the King of hearts” in each of our lives. The Word-Made-Flesh . .. Exegesis of Luke 23:33-43 Today is “Christ the King Sunday.” The Sunday before Advent begins its four week count-down to the crib of the infant Jesus. In the church’s liturgical calendar this is the Sunday we celebrate Christ...
17. It Was for Us
Luke 23:26-43
Sermon
James McCormick
There is a Lenten hymn whose words have special meaning for me: “There is a green hill far away, beyond the city wall, Where the dear Lord was crucified, who died to save us all. We may not know, we cannot tell what pains he had to bear, But we believe it was for us he hung and suffered there That has been the affirmation of the Christian faith for 2,000 years now, that although the crucifixion...
Sermon
James Merritt
His name is Ben Davis: 18 years old, 6 ft. 3 in. tall, 195 lbs. Davis is a very special young man. He was named the USA Today Baseball Player of the Year. By all accounts, he has a tremendous future ahead of him. This 18 year old phenom signed with the San Diego Padres right out of high school for a $1.3 million bonus. He has been called the best high school catcher in twenty years; the best since...
Sermon
Billy D. Strayhorn
There's an old story about three men who were friends. They attended college together. And even went to grad schools in the same town. One became a Lawyer, one became a Tax Accountant and the other became a Preacher. The Lawyer and the Accountant were members of the Preachers church. Over the years, they maintained their close friendship. One of the things that held them together was mutual respe...
20. The Failure
Luke 23:26-43
Sermon
James Merritt
You have ever known one, or you were one, or you still think you are one. You went to school with them. Maybe you grew up with them. Maybe you live with them. Maybe you even think you are married to them. They are easily identified by the labels that we put on them such as: losers, rejects, nerds, geeks, or failures. They get mocked, bullied, ridiculed, and made fun of. They are ostracized and is...
Sermon
Eric Ritz
Today, we gather in this sanctuary for the solemn day on the liturgical calendar which we call Good Friday. For some it is also known as BLACK FRIDAY. I want to share some thoughts and reflections from what historically has been designated as the FIRST WORD from the SEVEN LAST WORDS OF JESUS CHRIST from the Cross on Calvary. It should not come as a surprise to anyone that the first words from th...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
Anytime the phone rings at 4 a.m. it’s always unnerving. Very rarely is it good news. Two years ago Peggielene Bartels got just such a phone call. The call she got was from her uncle back in her homeland of Ghana in West Africa. He informed her that her other uncle, who had ruled as king of the small fishing village of Otuam, had died. But the call Peggy ultimately answered wasn’t just some sad f...
Sermon
King Duncan
It’s an old story. It would be hilarious if it weren’t so sad. A young soldier fighting in Italy during World War II managed to jump into a foxhole just ahead of a spray of bullets. He immediately attempted to deepen the hole for more protection. As he was frantically scraping at the dirt with his hands, he unearthed a silver crucifix, obviously left by a previous occupant of the foxhole. A momen...
Sermon
Eric Ritz
Today we gather in this sanctuary to continue on our Lenten journey that we began on Ash Wednesday. I want to share some thoughts and reflections from what historically has been designated as the First Word--from the Seven Last Words of Jesus Christ from the cross. It should not come as a surprise to anyone that the first word from the cross deals with the real life issue of forgiveness, and rea...
Sermon
Alvin Rueter
It may seem strange we have this Gospel today for the Festival of Christ the King. The Second Lesson seems to be more on target, that Christ is "the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation," that "in him all things hold together," that he is "the first-born from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent." But this story? From Good Friday - about a loser? The object of ...
Showing 1 to 25 of 42 results